Zimbabwe opposition takes to streets in vote-rigging warning

By AFP -
12 July 2018 - 10:40

Thousands of supporters sporting the party's red berets, hats, caps and T-shirts with portrait of its young leader Nelson Chamisa, danced to music at the start of the march to the country's electoral commission.
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ZIMBABWE TODAY

Thousands of Zimbabwean opposition supporters took to the streets of Harare on Wednesday demanding fair elections following alleged irregularities in the electoral roll ahead of the July 30 vote.

The electoral register has long been a contentious feature of Zimbabwe's elections, fuelling accusations of vote rigging in previous polls.

A new voters' roll has been compiled for the upcoming polls, but the main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is alleging that the list is flawed. It also demanding transparency in the printing of ballot papers.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from ousted long-time ruler Robert Mugabe in November, has promised to deliver free, fair and credible polls.

Thousands of supporters sporting the party's red berets, hats, caps and T-shirts with portrait of its young leader Nelson Chamisa, danced to music at the start of the march to the country's electoral commission.

Supporters flashed red cards used by football referees to expel players from the field and blew whistles as Chamisa handed a petition to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials in downtown Harare.

Many carried placards some of which read "no to vote rigging" and "we demand transparency in the printing of ballot papers".